Traffic separation in a controller based multi-AP network

ABSTRACT

Certain aspects relate to methods and apparatus for traffic separation in a multi AP (MAP) network. In some cases, a MAP Controller may configure sets of SSIDs to a single VLAN ID in a Traffic Separation Policy and distribute the Traffic Separation Policy information to the MAP Agents.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY UNDER 35 U.S.C. § 119

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.16/529,561, filed Aug. 1, 2019 which claims benefit of and priority toU.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 62/714,422, filed Aug. 3,2018, which are assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expresslyincorporated by reference herein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to methods and apparatus for traffic separation inmulti AP (MAP) networks.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

In order to address the issue of increasing bandwidth requirements thatare demanded for wireless communication systems, different schemes arebeing developed to allow multiple user terminals to communicate with asingle access point (AP) or multiple APs by sharing the channelresources while achieving high data throughputs. Multiple Input MultipleOutput (MIMO) technology represents one such approach that has recentlyemerged as a popular technique for the next generation communicationsystems.

A MIMO system employs multiple (NT) transmit antennas and multiple (NR)receive antennas for data transmission. A MIMO channel formed by the NTtransmit and NR receive antennas may be decomposed into NS independentchannels, which are also referred to as spatial channels, whereN_(S)≤min{N_(T), N_(R)}. Each of the NS independent channels correspondsto a dimension. The MIMO system can provide improved performance (suchas higher throughput and greater reliability) if the additionaldimensionalities created by the multiple transmit and receive antennasare utilized.

In wireless networks with multiple APs and multiple user stations(STAs), concurrent transmissions may occur on multiple channels towarddifferent STAs, both in uplink and downlink directions. Many challengesare present in such systems. For example, the AP may transmit signalsusing different standards such as the IEEE 802.11n/a/b/g or the IEEE802.11ac (Very High Throughput (VHT)) standards. A receiver station(STA) may be able to detect a transmission mode of the signal based oninformation included in a preamble of the transmission packet.

A downlink multi-user MIMO (MU-MIMO) system based on Spatial DivisionMultiple Access (SDMA) transmission can simultaneously serve a pluralityof spatially separated STAs by applying beamforming at the AP's antennaarray. Complex transmit precoding weights can be calculated by the APbased on channel state information (CSI) received from each of thesupported STAs.

In a distributed MU-MIMO system, multiple APs may simultaneously serve aplurality of spatially separated STAs by coordinating beamforming by theantennas of the multiple APs. For example, multiple APs may coordinatetransmissions to each STA.

As the demand for wireless access continues to increase, there exists adesire for further improvements in wireless technology. Preferably,these improvements should be applicable to other multi-accesstechnologies and the communication standards that employ thesetechnologies.

BRIEF SUMMARY

The systems, methods, and devices of the disclosure each have severalaspects, no single one of which is solely responsible for its desirableattributes. Without limiting the scope of this disclosure as expressedby the claims which follow, some features will now be discussed briefly.After considering this discussion, and particularly after reading thesection entitled “Detailed Description” one will understand how thefeatures of this disclosure provide advantages that include improvedcommunications between access points and stations in a wireless network.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes a processing system configured to assignvirtual local area network (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) to service setidentifiers (SSIDs) supported by a multi access point (MAP) network,generate traffic separation policy information for each SSID, includingthe assigned VID, and at least one interface configured to output thetraffic separation policy information to agents in the MAP network foruse in separating traffic.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes at least one interface configured to obtaintraffic separation policy information including virtual local areanetwork (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assigned to service set identifiers(SSIDs) supported by a multi access point (MAP) network and a processingsystem configured to forward traffic in the MAP network, based on theVIDs in the traffic separation policy information.

Certain aspects provide an apparatus for wireless communication. Theapparatus generally includes at least one interface configured to obtaintraffic separation policy information including virtual local areanetwork (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assigned to client STAs in a multiaccess point (MAP) network that belong to service set identifiers(SSIDs) based on IP addresses and MAC address and a processing systemconfigured to map downlink traffic for the client STAs to the VIDsassigned to the SSIDs based on the IP addresses in the trafficseparation policy information.

Aspects generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer readablemediums, and processing systems, as substantially described herein withreference to and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. Numerousother aspects are provided.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the above-recited features of the presentdisclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description,briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to aspects, some ofwhich are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted,however, that the appended drawings illustrate only certain typicalaspects of this disclosure and are therefore not to be consideredlimiting of its scope, for the description may admit to other equallyeffective aspects.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example wireless communications network, inaccordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example access point and examplestations, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example wireless device, in accordance withcertain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 illustrates a first example diagram of a multi access point (MAP)network, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates a second example diagram of a multi access point(MAP) network, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates a third example diagram of a multi access point (MAP)network, in accordance with certain aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram of example operations for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7A illustrates example components capable of performing theoperations shown in FIG. 7, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of example operations for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 8A illustrates example components capable of performing theoperations shown in FIG. 8, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of example operations for wirelesscommunication, in accordance with certain aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9A illustrates example components capable of performing theoperations shown in FIG. 9, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example SSID Traffic Separation Policy typelength value (TLV) format.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one aspectmay be beneficially utilized on other aspects without specificrecitation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various aspects of the disclosure are described more fully hereinafterwith reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to any specific structure or function presented throughoutthis disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that thisdisclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey thescope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on theteachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scopeof the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the disclosuredisclosed herein, whether implemented independently of or combined withany other aspect of the disclosure. For example, an apparatus may beimplemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspectsset forth herein. In addition, the scope of the disclosure is intendedto cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using otherstructure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition toor other than the various aspects of the disclosure set forth herein. Itshould be understood that any aspect of the disclosure disclosed hereinmay be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example,instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary”is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous overother aspects.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations andpermutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure.Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects arementioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited toparticular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of thedisclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wirelesstechnologies, system configurations, networks, and transmissionprotocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in thefigures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. Thedetailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of thedisclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure beingdefined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

The following description is directed to certain implementations for thepurposes of describing the innovative aspects of this disclosure.However, a person having ordinary skill in the art will readilyrecognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a multitude ofdifferent ways. The described implementations may be implemented in anydevice, system or network that is capable of transmitting and receivingRF signals according to any of the IEEE 16.11 standards, or any of theIEEE 802.11 standards, the Bluetooth® standard, code division multipleaccess (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM),GSM/General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment(EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA),Evolution Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1×EV-DO, EV-DO Rev A, EV-DO Rev B,High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed Downlink Packet Access(HSDPA), High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High SpeedPacket Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), AMPS, or other knownsignals that are used to communicate within a wireless, cellular orinternet of things (IOT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G or5G, or further implementations thereof, technology.

The techniques described herein may be used for various broadbandwireless communication systems, including communication systems that arebased on a single carrier transmission. Aspects may be, for example,advantageous to systems employing Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) signalsincluding millimeter-wave signals. However, this disclosure is notintended to be limited to such systems, as other coded signals maybenefit from similar advantages.

The techniques may be incorporated into (such as implemented within orperformed by) a variety of wired or wireless apparatuses (such asnodes). In some implementations, a node includes a wireless node. Such awireless node may provide, for example, connectivity to or for a network(such as a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet or a cellularnetwork) via a wired or wireless communication link. In someimplementations, a wireless node may include an access point or a userterminal.

Multiple APs may transmit to multiple receiving user terminals at a timeby using distributed multi-user multiple input multiple output(MU-MIMO). For example, multiple APs may transmit data to a given userterminal at a time, meaning the transmission of data to the userterminal is distributed between the multiple APs. The multiple APs mayutilize beamforming to steer signals spatially to the user terminal. Insome implementations, for the multiple APs to perform distributedMU-MIMO, the multiple APs coordinate the beamforming performed by eachAP to reduce interference for transmitting data to the user terminal. Insome implementations, the multiple APs perform a procedure to form agroup of APs to transmit to the user terminal, as discussed herein.Further, in some implementations, to coordinate the beamforming betweenthe multiple APs, the multiple APs perform a sounding procedure togather feedback information from the user terminal about wirelesschannels between the multiple APs and the user terminal, as discussedherein. The multiple APs may utilize the feedback information to performbeamforming.

Particular implementations of the subject matter described in thisdisclosure can be implemented to realize one or more of the followingpotential advantages. For example, APs are able to form a group fortransmitting to a user terminal using over the air signaling as opposedto communicating over a backhaul. This may reduce data congestion on thebackhaul. Additionally, the sounding procedures may allow forcoordinated gathering of feedback information by multiple APs from userterminals. Accordingly, the feedback information for the multiple APsmay include channel conditions for each of the multiple APs coordinatedin time, which may improve the accuracy of the beamforming based on thefeedback information. Furthermore, the sounding procedures may limit theamount of data exchanged wirelessly to perform the sounding procedures,which may reduce bandwidth usage of wireless channels.

EXAMPLE WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM

FIG. 1 illustrates a multiple-access point (multi-AP or MAP) network 100with access points 110 and user terminals 120. For simplicity, only twoaccess points 110 (e.g., APs 110 ₁ and 110 ₂) are shown in FIG. 1. APs110 ₁ and 110 ₂ may coordinate to route traffic between each other andto serve multiple UTs 120, in accordance with techniques describedherein.

An access point (AP) is generally a fixed station that communicates withthe user terminals and also may be referred to as a base station or someother terminology. A user terminal may be fixed or mobile and also maybe referred to as a mobile station, a station (STA), a client, awireless device, or some other terminology. A user terminal may be awireless device, such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a handheld device, a wireless modem, a laptop computer, apersonal computer, etc.

The access point 110 may communicate with one or more user terminals 120at any given moment on the downlink and uplink. The downlink (i.e.,forward link) is the communication link from the access point to theuser terminals, and the uplink (i.e., reverse link) is the communicationlink from the user terminals to the access point. A user terminal alsomay communicate peer-to-peer with another user terminal.

The MAP network 100 employs multiple transmit and multiple receiveantennas for data transmission on the downlink and uplink. The accesspoint 110 is equipped with a number N_(ap) of antennas and representsthe multiple-input (MI) for downlink transmissions and themultiple-output (MO) for uplink transmissions. A set N_(u) of selecteduser terminals 120 collectively represents the multiple-output fordownlink transmissions and the multiple-input for uplink transmissions.In some implementations, it may be desirable to have N_(ap)≥N_(u)≥1 ifthe data symbol streams for the N_(u) user terminals are not multiplexedin code, frequency or time by some means. N_(u) may be greater thanN_(ap) if the data symbol streams can be multiplexed using differentcode channels with CDMA, disjoint sets of sub-bands with OFDM, and soon. Each selected user terminal transmits user-specific data to andreceives user-specific data from the access point. In general, eachselected user terminal may be equipped with one or multiple antennas(i.e., N_(ut)≥1). The N_(u) selected user terminals can have the same ordifferent number of antennas.

The MAP network 100 may be a time division duplex (TDD) system or afrequency division duplex (FDD) system. For a TDD system, the downlinkand uplink share the same frequency band. For an FDD system, thedownlink and uplink use different frequency bands. The MAP network 100also may utilize a single carrier or multiple carriers for transmission.Each user terminal may be equipped with a single antenna (such as inorder to keep costs down) or multiple antennas (such as where theadditional cost can be supported). The MAP network 100 may represent ahigh speed Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) operating in a 60 GHzband.

FIG. 2 illustrates example components of the access point 110 andstation 120 illustrated in FIG. 1, which may be used to implementaspects of the present disclosure. One or more components of the accesspoint 110 and station 120 may be used to practice aspects of the presentdisclosure. For example, antenna 224, transmitter/receiver unit 222,processors 210, 220, 240, 242, and/or controller 230 or antenna 252,transmitter/receiver 254, processors 260, 270, 288, and 290, and/orcontroller 280 may be used to perform the operations described hereinand illustrated with reference to FIGS. 7, 7A, 8, 8A, 15, and 15A.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the access point/base station 110 andtwo user terminals/user equipments 120 m and 120 x in a MAP network 100.The access point 110 is equipped with N_(ap) antennas 224 a through 224ap. The user terminal 120 m is equipped with N_(ut,m) antennas 252 mathrough 252 mu, and the user terminal 120 x is equipped with N_(ut,x)antennas 252 xa through 252 xu. The access point 110 is a transmittingentity for the downlink and a receiving entity for the uplink. Each userterminal 120 is a transmitting entity for the uplink and a receivingentity for the downlink. As used herein, a “transmitting entity” is anindependently operated apparatus or device capable of transmitting datavia a frequency channel, and a “receiving entity” is an independentlyoperated apparatus or device capable of receiving data via a frequencychannel. In the following description, the subscript “dn” denotes thedownlink, the subscript “up” denotes the uplink, N_(up) user terminalsare selected for simultaneous transmission on the uplink, and N_(dn)user terminals are selected for simultaneous transmission on thedownlink. Moreover, N_(up) may or may not be equal to N_(dn), andN_(up), and N_(dn) may include static values or can change for eachscheduling interval. Beamforming (such as beam-steering) or some otherspatial processing techniques may be used at the access point and userterminal.

On the uplink, at each user terminal 120 selected for uplinktransmission, a TX data processor 288 receive traffic data from a datasource 286 and control data from a controller 280. The controller 280may be coupled with a memory 282. The TX data processor 288 processes(such as encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic data{d_(up,m)} for the user terminal based on the coding and modulationschemes associated with the rate selected for the user terminal andprovides a data symbol stream {S_(up,m)}. A TX spatial processor 290performs spatial processing on the data symbol stream {s_(up,m)} andprovides N_(ut,m) transmit symbol streams for the N_(ut,m) antennas.Each transmitter unit (TMTR) 254 receives and processes (such asconverts to analog, amplifies, filters, and frequency upconverts) arespective transmit symbol stream to generate an uplink signal. TheN_(ut,m) transmitter units 254 provide N_(ut,m) uplink signals fortransmission from the N_(ut,m) antennas 252 to the access point 110.

A number N_(up) of user terminals may be scheduled for simultaneoustransmission on the uplink. Each of these user terminals performsspatial processing on its data symbol stream and transmits its set oftransmit symbol streams on the uplink to the access point.

At the access point 110, the N_(ap) antennas 224 a through 224 _(ap)receive the uplink signals from all N_(up) user terminals transmittingon the uplink. Each antenna 224 provides a received signal to arespective receiver unit (RCVR) 222. Each receiver unit 222 performsprocessing complementary to that performed by the transmitter unit 254and provides a received symbol stream. An RX spatial processor 240performs receiver spatial processing on the N_(ap) received symbolstreams from the N_(ap) receiver units 222 and provides N_(up) recovereduplink data symbol streams. The receiver spatial processing is performedin accordance with the channel correlation matrix inversion (CCMI),minimum mean square error (MMSE), successive interference cancellation(SIC), or some other technique. Each recovered uplink data symbol stream{s_(up,m)} is an estimate of a data symbol stream {s_(up,m)} transmittedby a respective user terminal. An RX data processor 242 processes (suchas demodulates, de-interleaves, and decodes) each recovered uplink datasymbol stream {s_(up,m)} in accordance with the rate used for thatstream to obtain decoded data. The decoded data for each user terminalmay be provided to a data sink 244 for storage and a controller 230 forfurther processing.

On the downlink, at the access point 110, a TX data processor 210receives traffic data from a data source 208 for N_(dn) user terminalsscheduled for downlink transmission, control data from a controller 230,and possibly other data from a scheduler 234. The various types of datamay be sent on different transport channels. The TX data processor 210processes (such as encodes, interleaves, and modulates) the traffic datafor each user terminal based on the rate selected for that userterminal. The TX data processor 210 provides N_(dn) downlink data symbolstreams for the N_(dn) user terminals. A TX spatial processor 220performs spatial processing on the N_(dn) downlink data symbol streams,and provides N_(ap) transmit symbol streams for the N_(ap) antennas.Each transmitter unit (TMTR) 222 receives and processes a respectivetransmit symbol stream to generate a downlink signal. The N_(ap)transmitter units 222 provide N_(ap) downlink signals for transmissionfrom the N_(ap) antennas 224 to the user terminals. The decoded data foreach STA may be provided to a data sink 272 for storage and/or acontroller 280 for further processing.

At each user terminal 120, the N_(ut,m) antennas 252 receive the N_(ap)downlink signals from the access point 110. Each receiver unit (RCVR)254 processes a received signal from an associated antenna 252 andprovides a received symbol stream. An RX spatial processor 260 performsreceiver spatial processing on N_(ut,m) received symbol streams from theN_(ut,m) receiver units 254 and provides a recovered downlink datasymbol stream {s_(dn,m)} for the user terminal. The receiver spatialprocessing can be performed in accordance with the CCMI, MMSE, or otherknown techniques. An RX data processor 270 processes (such asdemodulates, de-interleaves, and decodes) the recovered downlink datasymbol stream to obtain decoded data for the user terminal.

At each user terminal 120, the N_(ut,m) antennas 252 receive the N_(ap)downlink signals from the access point 110. Each receiver unit (RCVR)254 processes a received signal from an associated antenna 252 andprovides a received symbol stream. An RX spatial processor 260 performsreceiver spatial processing on N_(ut,m) received symbol streams from theN_(ut,m) receiver units 254 and provides a recovered downlink datasymbol stream {s_(dn,m)} for the user terminal. The receiver spatialprocessing is performed in accordance with the CCMI, MMSE, or some othertechnique. An RX data processor 270 processes (such as demodulates,de-interleaves, and decodes) the recovered downlink data symbol streamto obtain decoded data for the user terminal.

FIG. 3 illustrates various components that may be utilized in a wirelessdevice 302 that may be employed within the MAP network 100. The wirelessdevice 302 is an example of a device that may be configured to implementthe various methods described herein. The wireless device 302 may be anaccess point 110 or a user terminal 120.

The wireless device 302 may include a processor 304 which controlsoperation of the wireless device 302. The processor 304 also may bereferred to as a central processing unit (CPU). Memory 306, which mayinclude both read-only memory (ROM) and random access memory (RAM),provides instructions and data to the processor 304. A portion of thememory 306 also may include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).The processor 304 typically performs logical and arithmetic operationsbased on program instructions stored within the memory 306. Theinstructions in the memory 306 may be executable to implement themethods described herein.

The wireless device 302 also may include a housing 308 that may includea transmitter 310 and a receiver 312 to allow transmission and receptionof data between the wireless device 302 and a remote location. Thetransmitter 310 and the receiver 312 may be combined into a transceiver314. A plurality of transmit antennas 316 may be attached to the housing308 and electrically coupled to the transceiver 314. The wireless device302 also may include (not shown) multiple transmitters, multiplereceivers, and multiple transceivers.

The wireless device 302 also may include a signal detector 318 that maybe used in an effort to detect and quantify the level of signalsreceived by the transceiver 314. The signal detector 318 may detect suchsignals as total energy, energy per subcarrier per symbol, powerspectral density and other signals. The wireless device 302 also mayinclude a digital signal processor (DSP) 320 for use in processingsignals.

The various components of the wireless device 302 may be coupledtogether by a bus system 322, which may include a power bus, a controlsignal bus, and a status signal bus in addition to a data bus.

EXAMPLE TRAFFIC SEPARATION IN MAP NETWORKS

Aspects of the present disclosure provide techniques that may helpachieve traffic separation in multi AP (MAP) networks. For example, thetechniques presented herein may allow for separation of traffic toprovide different network accesses for clients of a MAP network, such asowner's network, guest network, and public network.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example MAP network 400 in which MAP devices 410 ₁and 410 ₂ route traffic to and from non-AP STAs 420 ₁ and 420 ₂. In thisexample, MAP devices 410 ₁ and 410 ₂ communicate directly with non APSTAs 420 ₁ and 420 ₂ via a wireless fronthaul link, while MAP devices410 ₁ and 410 ₂ communicate with each other via a backhaul link that maybe wired or wireless.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the MAP network 400 may be central controllerbased, for example, with a MAP controller residing on a device withinthe MAP network (e.g., within a gateway device and/or co-located with aMAP agent). In this example, the MAP controller resides on a MAP device410 ₁. The controller may configure (via a MAP control interface) otherdevices, referred to as agents, to perform traffic routing as describedherein. For example, the controller may generate and send trafficseparation policy information to MAP network agents residing on MAPdevices 410 ₁ and 410 ₂, for use in forwarding traffic, in accordancewith aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates another example MAP network 500 in which MAP devices510 ₁, 510 ₂, 510 ₃, and 510 ₄ route traffic to and from non-AP STAs 520₁, 520 ₂, 520 ₃ and 520 ₄. In this example, MAP devices 510 ₁₋₄communicate directly with non AP STAs 520 ₁₋₄ via a wireless fronthaullink. In this case, MAP devices 510 ₁ and 510 ₂ communicate with eachother via a wireless backhaul link (as do MAP devices 510 ₂ and 510 ₄),while MAP devices 510 ₁ and 510 ₃ communicate via a wired backhaul link.As illustrated in FIG. 5, the MAP controller may reside on MAP device510 ₁ which, in this case, may be connected to a wide area network (WAN)and may serve as a gateway device.

FIG. 6 illustrates yet another example MAP network 600 in which MAPdevices 610 ₂, 610 ₃, and 610 ₄ route traffic to and from non-AP STAs620 ₁, 620 ₂, and 620 ₃. In this example, the MAP controller resides ona separate Multi-AP device 610 ₁ which, in this case, may be connectedto a WAN and may serve as a gateway device. In this example, MAP devices610 ₂₋₄ communicate directly with non AP STAs 620 ₁₋₃ via a wirelessfronthaul link. In this case, MAP device 610 ₂ communicates with MAPdevices 610 ₃₋₄ via a wireless backhaul link, while MAP device 610 ₂communicates with MAP device 610 ₁ via a wired backhaul link. In thisarrangement, MAP device 610 ₂ may obtain control information from MAPdevice 610 ₁ and forward the control information to MAP devices 610 ₃₋₄.

As illustrated in the various examples shown in FIGS. 4, 5 and 6,through various wired and/or wireless fronthaul and backhaul connectionsvia various MAP agents, the MAP network may serve to route traffic toand from various non-AP STAs. For example, the MAP agents may beconfigured to forward uplink and/or downlink traffic in accordance withthe traffic separation policy information received from the controller.In some cases, the actual topology for a MAP network may depend oncapabilities of the agents in the MAP network. For example, a MAPcontroller may arrange the topology in such a way that traffic for allVIDs downstream of an Agent can be forwarded by that Agent.

A single Multi-AP (MAP) Network can support multiple SSIDs. Theadministrator of a MAP network can use these different SSIDs to providedifferent network accesses for clients, such as owner's network access,guest network access, and public network access.

Aspects of the present disclosure provide a mechanism for separatingtraffic from different networks supported in a MAP network. For example,aspects of the present disclosure provide a mechanism (protocol) toallow the controller to configure MAP agents so that MAP agents canperform traffic separation.

FIG. 7 illustrates example operations 700 for wireless communications byan apparatus, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Forexample, operations 700 may be performed by a controller (any deviceacting as a controller function) of a MAP network, such as any of theMAP devices (410 ₁, 510 ₁ or 610 ₁) shown in FIGS. 4-6 with a residentcontroller.

Operations 700 begin, at 702, by assigning virtual local area network(VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) to service set identifiers (SSIDs) supportedby a multi access point (MAP) network. At 704, the apparatus generatestraffic separation policy information for each SSID, including theassigned VID.

At 706, the apparatus outputs the traffic separation policy informationto agents in the MAP network for use in separating traffic. For example,the traffic separation policy information may be output for transmissionvia a type length value (TLV) field. The TLV filed may be included in amessage, such as a MAP policy configuration request message or a Wi-Fisimple configuration (WSC) message.

In this manner, the MAP Controller may configure sets of (one or more)SSIDs to a single VLAN ID in a Traffic Separation Policy (e.g., eachmapping from one or many SSIDs to one VLAN ID may be indicated in aTraffic Separation Policy TLV such as shown in FIG. 10). As shown inFIG. 4, a MAP Controller may distribute the Traffic Separation Policyinformation to the MAP Agents.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of example operations 800 for wirelesscommunication by an apparatus, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. Operations 800 may be performed, for example, by aMAP agent receiving traffic separation information from a MAPcontroller, such as any of the MAP devices shown in FIGS. 4-6 with aresident MAP agent.

The operations 800 begin, at 802, by obtaining information (e.g.,traffic separation policy information) including virtual local areanetwork (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assigned to service set identifiers(SSIDs) supported by a multi access point (MAP) network. At 804, theapparatus forwards traffic in the MAP network, based on the VIDs in theinformation.

As noted above, the traffic separation policy information may be outputfor transmission via a TLV field. In some cases, the traffic separationpolicy information may include a bitmap that indicates how traffic forcertain SSIDs is to be filtered. For example, network resourceaccessibility bitmaps may indicate how traffic for corresponding SSIDsare to be treated. In some cases, a resource accessibility bitmap mayindicate traffic for a corresponding SSID is to only be forwardedbetween a gateway and an agent.

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram of example operations 800 for wirelesscommunication by an apparatus, in accordance with certain aspects of thepresent disclosure. Operations 900 may be performed, for example, by agateway device (e.g., MAP device 510 ₁ of FIG. 5 or 610 ₁ of FIG. 6).

The operations 900 begin, at 902, by obtaining information (e.g.,traffic separation policy information) including virtual local areanetwork (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assigned to client STAs in a multiaccess point (MAP) network that belong to service set identifiers(SSIDs) based on IP addresses and MAC address.

At 904, the apparatus maps downlink traffic for the client STAs to theVIDs assigned to the SSIDs based on the IP addresses in the information.As noted above, the traffic separation policy information may be outputfor transmission via a TLV field.

As noted above, a MAP network can support multiple SSIDs, which can helpsupport traffic separation to provide different network accesses forclients, such as owner's network, guest network, and public network.

When configured by the Controller to enable multiple SSIDs, a MAP agentmay enable multiple SSIDs on its Fronthaul BSSs and may use differentBSSs for different SSIDs. In this case, a MAP Agent may provide aBackhaul SSID for a downstream Agent to join the backhaul.

With the traffic separation technique presented herein, trafficbelonging to different SSIDs may be separated in a MAP network usingvirtual local area network (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs). In such cases,each SSID may be mapped to a unique VLAN VID. As described above, withreference to FIG. 7, the assignment of a VLAN VID to a SSID may bedetermined by a MAP Controller.

Traffic separation may be effectively implemented by configuring a MAPagent such that traffic belonging to one VID is not sent on a BSSbelonging to a different VID. This can include broadcast traffic.

In some cases, the traffic forwarding between Agents may not be based onSSID-VLAN VID mapping. Rather, an Agent may be configured to forwardtraffic as an AP to a Backhaul-STA of its associated Agent or as a STAto the Fronthaul-AP of its associated Agent. When forwarding in thismanner, the Agent may maintain the VLAN VID of the incoming traffic.

In some cases, a STA acting as an ingress Agent may map uplink trafficfrom a non-Agent STA that is associated with a SSID to the VLAN VID thatis assigned that SSID. An ingress agent generally refers to a devicethat is a first point of entry to a MAP network for a non-AP STA (e.g.,MAP device 410 ₂ of FIG. 4 may be considered an ingress Agent for non-APSTA 420 ₂).

In some cases, an ingress Agent may add the VID to an ingress packet(e.g., an 802.1Q C-TAG with a VLAN ID) as specified in the TrafficSeparation Policy. In such cases, an egress agent (forwarding a packetout of the MAP network) may remove the VLAN ID (e.g., remove the 802.1QC-TAG with the VLAN ID). In this manner, the traffic belonging to eachVLAN may be distinguished using the unique VLAN ID (e.g., in an 802.1QC-TAG).

The Gateway (e.g., an agent that provides a gateway to a wide areanetwork such as MAP device 510 ₁ of FIG. 5 or 610 ₁ of FIG. 6) may mapthe downlink traffic for an end client STA to the VLAN VID assigned tothe SSID the end client STA joins based, on the STA's IP address in theMAP network (which may be provided in the traffic separation policyinformation).

FIG. 10 illustrates an example traffic separation policy TLV format. Asnoted above, in some cases, a Network Resource Accessibility bitmap inthe SSID Traffic Separation Policy TLV (as illustrated in the second tolast row of the example format shown in FIG. 10) for an SSID mayindicate that the traffic is to be forwarded only between the Gatewayand an Agent. In such cases, upon receiving a MAC service data unit(MSDU) of a VLAN VID that belongs to that SSID, the Agent should discardthe MSDU, if neither the destination address nor the source address isthe Gateway address.

Based on the SSID Traffic Separation configuration at the Controller,the Controller may be configured to send the traffic separation policyinformation of each SSID to Agents and to the Gateway, as shown in FIG.4. The traffic separation policy information may be sent using SSIDTraffic Separation Policy type length value (TLV), such as the exampleTLV format shown in FIG. 10. As noted above, such a TLV may be enclosedin the Multi-AP Policy Configuration Request message.

As described herein, SSID Traffic Separation Policy information forAgents of a MAP network may be directly based on SSID. In contrast, SSIDTraffic Separation Policy information for the Gateway may be based onthe IP addresses of the Agents and STAs associated with a SSID.

The methods disclosed herein comprise one or more steps or actions forachieving the described method. The method steps and/or actions may beinterchanged with one another without departing from the scope of theclaims. In other words, unless a specific order of steps or actions isspecified, the order and/or use of specific steps and/or actions may bemodified without departing from the scope of the claims.

As used herein, a phrase referring to “at least one of” a list of itemsrefers to any combination of those items, including single members. Asan example, “at least one of: a, b, or c” is intended to cover a, b, c,a-b, a-c, b-c, and a-b-c, as well as any combination with multiples ofthe same element (e.g., a-a, a-a-a, a-a-b, a-a-c, a-b-b, a-c-c, b-b,b-b-b, b-b-c, c-c, and c-c-c or any other ordering of a, b, and c). Asused herein, including in the claims, the term “and/or,” when used in alist of two or more items, means that any one of the listed items can beemployed by itself, or any combination of two or more of the listeditems can be employed. For example, if a composition is described ascontaining components A, B, and/or C, the composition can contain Aalone; B alone; C alone; A and B in combination; A and C in combination;B and C in combination; or A, B, and C in combination.

As used herein, the term “determining” encompasses a wide variety ofactions. For example, “determining” may include calculating, computing,processing, deriving, investigating, looking up (e.g., looking up in atable, a database or another data structure), ascertaining and the like.Also, “determining” may include receiving (e.g., receiving information),accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory) and the like. Also,“determining” may include resolving, selecting, choosing, establishingand the like.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” For example, the articles “a” and“an” as used in this application and the appended claims shouldgenerally be construed to mean “one or more” unless specified otherwiseor clear from the context to be directed to a singular form. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers to one or more.Moreover, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom the context, the phrase, for example, “X employs A or B” isintended to mean any of the natural inclusive permutations. That is, forexample the phrase “X employs A or B” is satisfied by any of thefollowing instances: X employs A; X employs B; or X employs both A andB. All structural and functional equivalents to the elements of thevarious aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known orlater come to be known to those of ordinary skill in the art areexpressly incorporated herein by reference and are intended to beencompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. No claim element is tobe construed under the provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph,unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for” or,in the case of a method claim, the element is recited using the phrase“step for.”

The various operations of methods described above may be performed byany suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions.The means may include various hardware and/or software component(s)and/or module(s), including, but not limited to a circuit, anapplication specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or processor. Generally,where there are operations illustrated in figures, those operations mayhave corresponding counterpart means-plus-function components withsimilar numbering. For example, operations 700, 800, and 900 illustratedin FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 correspond to means 700A, 800A, and 900Aillustrated in FIGS. 7A, 8A, and 9A, respectively.

For example, means for transmitting (or means for outputting fortransmission) may comprise a transmitter (e.g., the transmitter unit222) and/or an antenna(s) 224 of the access point 110 or the transmitterunit 254 and/or antenna(s) 252 of the station 120 illustrated in FIG. 2.Means for receiving (or means for obtaining) may comprise a receiver(e.g., the receiver unit 222) and/or an antenna(s) 224 of the accesspoint 110 or the receiver unit 254 and/or antenna(s) 252 of the station120 illustrated in FIG. 2. Means for processing, means for extracting,means for performing channel estimation, means for demultiplexing, meansfor obtaining, means for generating, means for selecting, means fordecoding, means for deciding, means for demultiplexing, means fordiscarding, means for forwarding, means for mapping, or means fordetermining, may comprise a processing system, which may include one ormore processors, such as the RX data processor 242, the TX dataprocessor 210, the TX spatial processor 220, and/or the controller 230of the access point 110 or the RX data processor 270, the TX dataprocessor 288, the TX spatial processor 290, and/or the controller 280of the station 120 illustrated in FIG. 2.

In some cases, rather than actually transmitting a frame a device mayhave an interface to output a frame for transmission (a means foroutputting). For example, a processor may output a frame, via a businterface, to a radio frequency (RF) front end for transmission.Similarly, rather than actually receiving a frame, a device may have aninterface to obtain a frame received from another device (a means forobtaining). For example, a processor may obtain (or receive) a frame,via a bus interface, from an RF front end for reception.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules and circuits describedin connection with the present disclosure may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device (PLD),discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or anycombination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein.A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in thealternative, the processor may be any commercially available processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

If implemented in hardware, an example hardware configuration maycomprise a processing system in a wireless node. The processing systemmay be implemented with a bus architecture. The bus may include anynumber of interconnecting buses and bridges depending on the specificapplication of the processing system and the overall design constraints.The bus may link together various circuits including a processor,machine-readable media, and a bus interface. The bus interface may beused to connect a network adapter, among other things, to the processingsystem via the bus. The network adapter may be used to implement thesignal processing functions of the PHY layer. In the case of a userterminal 120 (see FIG. 1), a user interface (e.g., keypad, display,mouse, joystick, etc.) may also be connected to the bus. The bus mayalso link various other circuits such as timing sources, peripherals,voltage regulators, power management circuits, and the like, which arewell known in the art, and therefore, will not be described any further.The processor may be implemented with one or more general-purpose and/orspecial-purpose processors. Examples include microprocessors,microcontrollers, DSP processors, and other circuitry that can executesoftware. Those skilled in the art will recognize how best to implementthe described functionality for the processing system depending on theparticular application and the overall design constraints imposed on theoverall system.

If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or transmittedover as one or more instructions or code on a computer readable medium.Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, data, or anycombination thereof, whether referred to as software, firmware,middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.Computer-readable media include both computer storage media andcommunication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of acomputer program from one place to another. The processor may beresponsible for managing the bus and general processing, including theexecution of software modules stored on the machine-readable storagemedia. A computer-readable storage medium may be coupled to a processorsuch that the processor can read information from, and write informationto, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may beintegral to the processor. By way of example, the machine-readable mediamay include a transmission line, a carrier wave modulated by data,and/or a computer readable storage medium with instructions storedthereon separate from the wireless node, all of which may be accessed bythe processor through the bus interface. Alternatively, or in addition,the machine-readable media, or any portion thereof, may be integratedinto the processor, such as the case may be with cache and/or generalregister files. Examples of machine-readable storage media may include,by way of example, RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, phasechange memory, ROM (Read Only Memory), PROM (Programmable Read-OnlyMemory), EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), EEPROM(Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), registers,magnetic disks, optical disks, hard drives, or any other suitablestorage medium, or any combination thereof. The machine-readable mediamay be embodied in a computer-program product.

A software module may comprise a single instruction, or manyinstructions, and may be distributed over several different codesegments, among different programs, and across multiple storage media.The computer-readable media may comprise a number of software modules.The software modules include instructions that, when executed by anapparatus such as a processor, cause the processing system to performvarious functions. The software modules may include a transmissionmodule and a receiving module. Each software module may reside in asingle storage device or be distributed across multiple storage devices.By way of example, a software module may be loaded into RAM from a harddrive when a triggering event occurs. During execution of the softwaremodule, the processor may load some of the instructions into cache toincrease access speed. One or more cache lines may then be loaded into ageneral register file for execution by the processor. When referring tothe functionality of a software module below, it will be understood thatsuch functionality is implemented by the processor when executinginstructions from that software module.

Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. Forexample, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or otherremote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared(IR), radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, andmicrowave are included in the definition of medium. Disk and disc, asused herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc,digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk, and Blu-ray® disc where disksusually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce dataoptically with lasers. Thus, in some aspects computer-readable media maycomprise non-transitory computer-readable media (e.g., tangible media).In addition, for other aspects computer-readable media may comprisetransitory computer-readable media (e.g., a signal). Combinations of theabove should also be included within the scope of computer-readablemedia.

Thus, certain aspects may comprise a computer program product forperforming the operations presented herein. For example, such a computerprogram product may comprise a computer-readable medium havinginstructions stored (and/or encoded) thereon, the instructions beingexecutable by one or more processors to perform the operations describedherein. For example, instructions for performing the operationsdescribed herein and illustrated in the appended figures.

Further, it should be appreciated that modules and/or other appropriatemeans for performing the methods and techniques described herein can bedownloaded and/or otherwise obtained by a user terminal and/or basestation as applicable. For example, such a device can be coupled to aserver to facilitate the transfer of means for performing the methodsdescribed herein. Alternatively, various methods described herein can beprovided via storage means (e.g., RAM, ROM, a physical storage mediumsuch as a compact disc (CD) or floppy disk, etc.), such that a userterminal and/or base station can obtain the various methods uponcoupling or providing the storage means to the device. Moreover, anyother suitable technique for providing the methods and techniquesdescribed herein to a device can be utilized.

It is to be understood that the claims are not limited to the preciseconfiguration and components illustrated above. Various modifications,changes and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation anddetails of the methods and apparatus described above without departingfrom the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for wireless communications,comprising: a processing system configured to: assign virtual local areanetwork (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) to at least some of service setidentifiers (SSIDs) supported by a multi access point (MAP) network, andgenerate traffic separation policy information for each of the SSID; andat least one interface configured to output the traffic separationpolicy information, wherein the traffic separation policy information isoutput for transmission via a type length value (TLV) that includes atleast one octet for type, two octets for length, and one or more octetsindicating SSIDs, wherein the TLV is enclosed in a MAP PolicyConfiguration Request message.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein theTLV indicates whether the traffic separation policy information is oneor more of SSID based, internet protocol (IP) address based, or mediaaccess control (MAC) address based.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2,wherein: the TLV also includes an indication of the VID assigned to oneof the SSIDs; and if the TLV indicates the traffic separation policyinformation is SSID based or internet protocol (IP) address, the TLValso indicates one or more IP addresses associated with the SSID towhich the indicated VID is assigned.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1,wherein the traffic separation policy information comprises a bitmapthat indicates how traffic for a corresponding SSID is to be handled. 5.The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the bitmap indicates whether or nottraffic for the corresponding SSID is to only be forwarded between agateway and an agent.
 6. An apparatus for wireless communications,comprising: at least one interface configured to obtain informationincluding virtual local area network (VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assignedto service set identifiers (SSIDs) supported by a multi access point(MAP) network and to obtain traffic, wherein the information is obtainedvia a type length value (TLV) that includes at least one octet for type,two octets for length, and one or more octets indicating SSIDs; and aprocessing system configured to: forward the traffic in the MAP network,based on the VIDs in the information, and add a VLAN ID to a packetobtained from a device for which the apparatus is a first point of entryto the MAP network.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein: the at leastone interface is configured to obtain a message; and the TLV is enclosedin the message.
 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the TLV indicateswhether the information is one or more of SSID based, internet protocol(IP) address based, or media access control (MAC) address based.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 8, wherein: the TLV also includes an indication ofthe VID assigned to one of the SSIDs; and if the TLV indicates theinformation is SSID based or internet protocol (IP) address, the TLValso indicates one or more IP addresses associated with the SSID towhich the indicated VID is assigned.
 10. The apparatus of claim 6,wherein the information comprises a bitmap that indicates how trafficfor a corresponding SSID is to be handled.
 11. The apparatus of claim10, wherein the bitmap indicates whether or not traffic for thecorresponding SSID is to only be forwarded between a gateway and anagent.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the processing system isconfigured to discard the traffic for an SSID if the bitmapcorresponding to that SSID indicates the traffic is to only be forwardedbetween a gateway and an agent.
 13. An apparatus for wirelesscommunications, comprising: at least one interface configured to obtaininformation including virtual local area network (VLAN) identifiers(VIDs) assigned to client STAs in a multi access point (MAP) networkthat belong to service set identifiers (SSIDs), wherein the VIDs areassigned to client STAs based on IP addresses and media access control(MAC) address, wherein the at least one interface is configured toobtain a message; and a processing system configured to map downlinktraffic for the client STAs to the VIDs assigned to the SSIDs based onthe information, wherein the information is obtained via a type lengthvalue (TLV) that includes at least one octet for type, two octets forlength, and one or more octets indicating SSIDs, wherein the TLV isenclosed in the message obtained by the at least one interface.
 14. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the TLV indicates whether information isone or more of SSID based, internet protocol (IP) address based, ormedia access control (MAC) address based.
 15. The apparatus of claim 14,wherein: the TLV also includes an indication of the VID assigned to oneof the SSIDs; and if the TLV indicates the information is SSID based orinternet protocol (IP) address, the TLV also indicates one or more IPaddresses associated with the SSID to which the indicated VID isassigned.
 16. A method for wireless communications by an apparatus,comprising: assigning information including virtual local area network(VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) to at least some of service set identifiers(SSIDs) supported by a multi access point (MAP) network; generatetraffic separation policy information for each of the SSIDs; output thetraffic separation policy, wherein the traffic separation policyinformation is output for transmission via a type length value (TLV)that includes at least one octet for type, two octets for length, andone or more octets indicating SSIDs, wherein the TLV is enclosed in aMAP Policy Configuration Request message.
 17. The method of claim 16,wherein the TLV indicates whether the information is one or more of SSIDbased, internet protocol (IP) address based, or media access control(MAC) address based.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein: the TLV alsoincludes an indication of the VID assigned to one of the SSIDs; and ifthe TLV indicates the information is SSID based or internet protocol(IP) address, the TLV also indicates one or more IP addresses associatedwith the SSID to which the indicated VID is assigned.
 19. The method ofclaim 16, wherein the information comprises a bitmap that indicates howtraffic for a corresponding SSID is to be handled.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, wherein the bitmap indicates whether or not traffic for thecorresponding SSID is to only be forwarded between a gateway and anagent.
 21. The method of claim 20, comprising: discarding the trafficfor an SSID if the bitmap corresponding to that SSID indicates thetraffic is to only be forwarded between a gateway and an agent.
 22. Amethod for wireless communications by an apparatus, comprising:obtaining information including virtual local area network (VLAN)identifiers (VIDs) assigned to service set identifiers (SSIDs) supportedby a multi access point (MAP) network; obtaining traffic; forwarding thetraffic in the MAP network, based on the VIDs in the information,wherein the information is obtained via a type length value (TLV) thatincludes at least one octet for type, two octets for length, and one ormore octets indicating SSIDs; and adding a VLAN ID to a packet obtainedfrom a device for which the apparatus is a first point of entry to theMAP network.
 23. A method for wireless communications by an apparatus,comprising: obtaining information including virtual local area network(VLAN) identifiers (VIDs) assigned to client STAs in a multi accesspoint (MAP) network that belong to service set identifiers (SSIDs),wherein the VIDs are assigned to client STAs based on IP addresses andmedia access control (MAC) address; obtaining a message; and mappingdownlink traffic for the client STAs to the VIDs assigned to the SSIDsbased on the information, wherein the information is obtained via a typelength value (TLV) that includes at least one octet for type, two octetsfor length, and one or more octets indicating SSIDs, wherein the TLV isenclosed in the message.